Japan’s industrial production dropped 2.0% month-over-month in February 2026, compared with flash data of a 2.1% decline and after a 4.3% growth in the previous month. It marked the first contraction since last November, dragged by lower output for motor vehicles (-3.6% vs 8.1% in January), fabricated metals (-5.9% vs 6.0%), and electronic parts and devices (-3.5% vs 1.9%). In contrast, production grew for iron, steel and non-ferrous metals (2.4% vs 2.3%), chemicals, excluding inorganic, organic chemicals, and medicine (1.7% vs 3.6%), and pulp, paper and paper products (1.6% vs 0.7%). On an annual basis, output grew 0.4%, slowing from a 0.7% rise in January and pointing to the third straight month of increase.